# Episode 454 - Yacht Club Selector Lock, Roger Sharpe Recordings, Multi-Races Progress, 1939 Gottlieb Keen-A-Ball

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2019-08-22  
**Duration:** 10m 42s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-454-yacht-club-selector-lock-roger-sharpe-recordings-multi-races-progress-1939-gottlieb-keen-a-ball

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## Analysis

Nicholas Backbone discusses EM and bingo pinball topics including a Yacht Club selector lock troubleshooting question, highlights Coast to Coast Pinball's new podcast featuring archival Roger Sharpe interviews, provides an update on his Multi-Races homebrew project with footrail button installation, and features a deep dive into the 1939 Gottlieb Keen-A-Ball flipperless game with bingo card mechanics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Coast to Coast Pinball is releasing archival interview tapes that Roger Sharpe recorded for his 1970s book 'Pinball' in podcast form — _Nicholas Backbone, citing Coast to Coast Pinball podcast feed_
- [MEDIUM] The Yacht Club selector lock may be malfunctioning due to a wedged metal spacer in the trough switch rather than the lock mechanism itself — _Nicholas Backbone, based on schematic analysis and advice from Jeff Lawton (Mystery Pinball Theater 3000)_
- [HIGH] The 1939 Gottlieb Keen-A-Ball is a flipperless game with bingo card mechanics where players light numbers on cards A (1-7) or B (4-10) to complete bingo and win replays — _Nicholas Backbone, describing the game mechanics_
- [HIGH] Multi-Races will feature six footrail buttons controlling all features, extra balls, odds only, doubles only, feature flag, and selection change — _Nicholas Backbone, describing his ongoing homebrew project_
- [HIGH] The Turf King bingo control buttons lack springs unlike standard bingo buttons, using a spoon switch with blade stiffener mechanism instead — _Nicholas Backbone, discussing button mechanisms for Multi-Races_

### Notable Quotes

> "if I shoot the Ball up and let's say it goes through the Ball Return, I'm going to get another Ball, shoot another Ball Return. If you do that three times in a row, the selection now will lock even though I don't have any Balls in the hole."
> — **Len (voicemail contributor)**, early in episode
> _Description of Yacht Club selector lock behavior that may indicate malfunction_

> "I think this is extremely cool and really great... Nate has really done a tremendous amount of work to the audio to make it listenable. I'm very impressed and I can't wait to hear more."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, middle section
> _Strong endorsement of Coast to Coast Pinball's archival project and audio restoration work_

> "I'd never used a router before... I only had one shot to do it and I only made one or two mistakes."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, Multi-Races progress section
> _Reflects on the challenge and risk of routing footrail buttonholes for Multi-Races_

> "every bingo control has a spring, so these of course predate the bingos, but the way they work is that there is a spoon switch underneath of it"
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, Multi-Races technical discussion
> _Technical insight into vintage button switch mechanisms_

> "I'm working on something which I think is exciting and I'm looking forward to bringing it to Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show."
> — **Nicholas Backbone**, closing section
> _Teases unannounced special project for upcoming pinball show_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nicholas Backbone | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast; builds homebrew pinball machines; EM and bingo pinball enthusiast |
| Len | person | Friend and contributor to Bingo Row in York; called in with Yacht Club selector lock troubleshooting question |
| Jeff Lawton | person | Host of Mystery Pinball Theater 3000; author of bingo book; provided troubleshooting advice on Yacht Club trough switch |
| Coast to Coast Pinball | person | Podcast creator launching archival Roger Sharpe interview series; released first episode on Harry Williams |
| Roger Sharpe | person | Pinball historian and author of 'Pinball' (1970s); recorded interviews with electromechanical luminaries for his book |
| Ken from Texas | person | Contributor who recommended Harbor Freight handheld router for Multi-Races project |
| Jim Holder | person | Bingo collector in Pennsylvania; contributor to Bingo Row; provided vintage bingo lock bars for Multi-Races |
| Harry Williams | person | Electromechanical pinball luminary; subject of first episode in Coast to Coast Pinball archival series |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nicholas Backbone; focuses on electromechanical and bingo pinball games |
| Bingo Row | event | Annual bingo and EM pinball gathering in York; venue for Nicholas Backbone's upcoming projects and announcements |
| Straight Down the Middle | event | Pinball show where Nicholas Backbone plans to unveil special projects and announcements |
| Coast2Coast Pinball | organization | Podcast feed featuring archival Roger Sharpe interview tapes with EM luminaries |
| Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 | organization | YouTube channel and podcast hosted by Jeff Lawton; focuses on pinball history and troubleshooting |
| Yacht Club | game | EM pinball game with selector lock and ball return mechanism; subject of troubleshooting question |
| Gay Time | game | EM pinball game with opposite selector lock behavior to Yacht Club; referenced for comparison |
| Multi-Races | game | Homebrew EM/bingo hybrid game by Nicholas Backbone; under development with footrail button controls and York preparation |
| Keen-A-Ball | game | 1939 Gottlieb flipperless game with bingo card mechanics (numbers 1-7 on card A, 4-10 on card B); featured game of episode |
| Gottlieb | company | Historic pinball manufacturer; produced Keen-A-Ball in 1939 |

### Topics

- **Primary:** EM Pinball Troubleshooting and Repair, Archival Pinball History and Documentation, Homebrew Pinball Machine Building, Bingo Pinball Mechanics and Games
- **Secondary:** Vintage Game Restoration and Parts Sourcing, Pinball Community Events (Bingo Row, Straight Down the Middle), Flipperless Game Design

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Episode maintains enthusiastic, collaborative tone. Positive reception of archival project, encouraging community contributions to troubleshooting, excitement about homebrew progress and vintage game discovery. No negative sentiment detected.

### Signals

- **[content_signal]** Coast to Coast Pinball launching podcast series featuring archival Roger Sharpe interviews from his 1970s 'Pinball' book with EM luminaries (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone highlights the new podcast feed, notes first episode on Harry Williams with significant audio restoration work
- **[restoration_signal]** Detailed troubleshooting approach for Yacht Club selector lock issue involving trough switch metal spacer inspection and relay circuit analysis (confidence: medium) — Len's voicemail describes malfunction; Nicholas and Jeff Lawton identify likely cause as wedged metal spacer in trough switch rather than lock mechanism
- **[design_innovation]** Multi-Races homebrew project incorporating six footrail button controls for feature selection and game modes, including restrictor plates and custom woodwork (confidence: high) — Nicholas Backbone describes routing buttonholes, installing restrictor plates, and integrating bingo-style buttons with spoon switches
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Nicholas Backbone sourcing vintage bingo control components (buttons, lock bars) from collector Jim Holder for Multi-Races project (confidence: high) — Jim Holder provided worn lock bars from magic screens to repurpose as buttons until originals sourced
- **[community_signal]** Strong community knowledge-sharing on EM troubleshooting, with Jeff Lawton (Mystery Pinball Theater 3000), Ken from Texas, and Jim Holder contributing expertise (confidence: high) — Multiple contributors provide specific technical advice; Nicholas credits them by name and notes shifts in understanding based on their input
- **[operational_signal]** Nicholas Backbone preparing multiple projects for Bingo Row (annual event) and Straight Down the Middle pinball show with announced and secret projects (confidence: high) — References to York preparations, footrail installation timing, and teased secret project for Straight Down the Middle
- **[historical_signal]** 1939 Gottlieb Keen-A-Ball featured as notable flipperless game with hybrid bingo card mechanics; adds to EM game history documentation (confidence: high) — Nicholas provides detailed mechanical breakdown of Keen-A-Ball gameplay including bingo card numbers (A: 1-7, B: 4-10) and skill point carryover replay feature
- **[product_strategy]** Multi-Races homebrew project tracking toward York debut with footrail controls; secret project planned for completion by next year if not ready for York (confidence: high) — Nicholas discusses current woodwork phase, upcoming installation, and timeline expectations for both projects

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## Transcript

 What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. First up, I got a voicemail on the bingo's line from Len, friend and contributor to Bingo Row in York every year. Hello Nick, hey I have a yacht club here. Here's my question, the ball return, if I If I shoot the Ball up and let's say it goes through the Ball Return, I'm going to get another Ball, shoot another Ball Return. If you do that three times in a row, the selection now will lock even though I don't have any Balls in the hole. Now I play the Gay Time, it's exactly the opposite. I can shoot as many Balls in the Ball Return until up to I shoot the fourth Ball and then I'm locked in. So I guess the question is, is the Yacht Club working right? It may seem like a simple problem. Looking at the schematic, there's not much to really go off of, so I think the Yacht Club's provides elevation for the true carting operation, the συ 81 verde л downwards or a trenädушеч pytanie selection ability an So I would suggest checking trough number four carefully. The only other things that are in the circuit of note are the timer itself and that stepping and a normally closed switch on the selector lock relay itself, which is opening appropriately or the coil would fry. So on bingo trough switches, there is a metal spacer, which can sometimes be wedged outside of the switch, I'm not a fan of pinball, especially if a particularly hard ball strike hits it or if someone's been messing with the trough in order to clean the switches or repair something and inadvertently doesn't. I'm certainly guilty of that. So I'd suggest concentrating my efforts there, as that makes the most sense. Thanks for my change of heart goes to Jeff Lawton, the man who wrote the bingo book. I contacted him because the trough switch is drawn and the schematic is being normally closed and for whatever reason that caused me to just close my eyes and look past it But he set me straight So thanks to Jeff and thanks Len for the interesting question Next up have you heard Coast to Coast Pinball's newest offering? He is taking the tapes that Roger Sharp recorded for his book Pinball that was written in the nineteen seventies. These are interviews with electromechanical luminaries and he is releasing them in podcast form. I think this is extremely cool and really great. The first episode focuses on Harry Williams and unfortunately they're in a crowded cafeteria but Nate has really done a tremendous amount of work to the audio to make it listenable. I'm very impressed and I can't wait to hear more. Do yourself a favor if you enjoy electromechanical games and seek out that podcast. It's Coast2Coast Pinball. That's the feed that it features under. Next, more work continues on multi-races. I did some woodwork this past weekend and routed out the buttonholes that are necessary for the footrail controls that I'm going to be adding to multi-races. There are going to be a total of six buttons In that foot rail area, one to play all features, one for extra balls, one for odds only, one for doubles only, one to light the feature flag, and then one to change your selection. So that took me a while. I'd never used a router before. And thanks to Ken I'm from Texas who gave me a tip to try a handheld router from Harbor Freight and it was in fact inexpensive. I spent quite a bit more on the bits and I'm pretty glad that I did. Those had no problem whatsoever but the router itself, very cheap. But it worked for me. So I only had one shot to do it and I only made Closing to the video, I'm going to be showing you a couple of mistakes, which isn't that bad considering that it was essentially my first time using this for anything of real consequence. I routed out a couple of other items for multi the back door I routed out a channel so that it would fit in a little locking area and routed out some channels for the locks the backbox locks to install Um that went fine so I decided to get crazy and start cutting some more holes in wood that I couldn replace And luckily it worked out. So I'm going to be installing restrictor plates on top of the buttons. Those help guide the button and also help prevent a enterprising person from pulling the button out of the hole. The buttons I found on Turf King at least have no springs, which I was a bit surprised to learn. Every bingo control has a spring, so these of course predate the bingos, but the way they work is that there is a spoon switch underneath of it, and that spoon has a blade stiffener behind it, sugg St Massens, Steertun, The last two I'm going to have to substitute bingo buttons and a big thank you to Jim Holder, bingo collector in Pennsylvania who's also a big part of bingo row every year. He has provided me with some old lock bars for bingos, magic screens that have very worn left and right buttons and I'll be able to repurpose those for now until I can find originals to slot in place. So preparations for York are in full swing and I should have more to announce on that front soon. I'm working on something which I think is pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to bringing it to the show. I also working on a super secret special project which I may or may not have finished in time for York but I should have it finished in time for next year So today featured game is Gottlieb 1939 Kina Ball This is a very interesting game I just saw it come up and it has a very bingoesque back glass There are two different bingo cards and the numbers 1 through 7 are posted on the first card marked A and the numbers 4 through 10 are marked on card B The launch of each ball, the ball can go one of a few different ways. There are two sets of lanes at the top, two on the left and two on the right, which allow you to choose either A or B, the card A or B. It will also light up the A or B on the back glass. This is important later on. And then the series of bumpers that progresses from there is set up in a fairly difficult or confusing pattern. But in the center of the game, There are three different bumpers and one ball return hole. I assume it's a ball return hole. It might be blocked underneath but it is not labeled like a gobble hole. At any rate, each of these things will award you one skill point. The neat thing about the skill points is that they're a carryover feature. and from the factory once every 30 skill points you win a replay. So even if you're a terrible player like myself, eventually they'll throw you a bone. But the main goal is to light up one entire bingo card and then make sure that you have the appropriate letter lit as well, A or B. I think this game looks like a ton of fun. It's a flipperless game with a fairly unique concept between the bingo cards and the skill points which accrue otherwise. So this is one that is now on my list and I'll be looking for a nice one here one of these days. At any rate, thank you very much for listening. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcast at gmail.com bingos1, 724-246-4671, itunes-stitcher, pocketcasts, vrss, facebook, twitter, bingopodcast, instagram, bingopodcast, foramusementonly.libsyn.com

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 5fa0bbb2-ba30-47af-bf41-51ae3fbd04d6*